Archives: heal colitis

There’s a common misconception in our society that we need to eat protein at every single meal. I beg to differ. Protein in one or two meals a day is plenty in my book. In fact, the American society is the only one I know of that makes dinner the heaviest meal of the day – everyone else eats heaviest at lunch so that they have the rest of the day to digest. Read more »

Have you heard about coconut aminos? Essentially it’s the sap from a coconut that’s filled with amino acids, which rebuild muscle tissue, boost the immune system and raise physical energy levels – along with much, much more! I just learned about this magical condiment and used it in one of my recipes in place of soy sauce. Chad is doing the Whole Read more »

Do you know about the dirty dozen list of fruits and vegetables? It’s a list that shows which foods should be bought organic due to the harmful pesticides that seep into the food. If you don’t know about this list then I highly suggest you do some research because these foods are the most effected by pesticides and should be bought organic every single time. Hu Kitchen – one of my favorite restaurants in NYC – is doing a fantastic challenge. If you memorize the list of dirty dozen fruits and veggies and recite it back to them they will give you 15% off your entire purchase for 1 entire month! That’s genius! If you already know the list then you should just go to Hu, recite it and get your 15%. If not, then learn it and enjoy your discount. What a great way to get people in the know about what should be organic.

This Thursday 2/27 from 10:45am-12pm I’m teaching a restorative yoga class at Nyack Yoga at 42 Main street in Nyack. Petrina Plecko typically teaches a therapeutic class at that time, but she’s away and asked me to sub. This class will be filled with delicious, relaxing, supportive, nourishing poses to help soothe and heal your body, mind and soul. If you’re having any symptoms of disease, this class will give you helpful tools to relax on a daily basis. I can’t think of a better way to spend your Thursday morning. Make your way over to Nyack Yoga at 42 main street in Nyack, NY. Let’s breathe together!

Last week was a stressful week for me and in my case that means my stomach gets off balance, which could potentially throw me into a colitis flare up. Yep, it sucks and it’s totally happening right now… Yuck!

Here’s what I’m NOT doing –

– Sitting around feeling sorry for myself

– Racking my brain trying to figure out exactly what threw me off

– Getting depressed

– Eating crap because I feel like crap

Here are the top 5 most important things that I AM doing for myself during this time:

1) Exercise. Get to the gym! if that’s not possible because you’re snowbound then do 100 jumping jacks right now to sweat and get your blood flowing. The worst thing you can do is sit or lie down all day.

– If you can get to the gym use that large ball in the stretching area to roll and stretch out your body – it also gives you an inversion, which is gentle, feels great and again gets the blood flowing. OR use the body foam roller and roll your whole body out. I’ll post pictures of both of these exercises in a future post – stay tuned.

2) Go to the steam room and sweat it out. I like steam especially in the winter time since it’s so dry out. The steam brings moisture and helps open the pores – this is also another way to help you sweat.

3) Try a soft food cleanse. What does that mean? Any food that’s safe for a baby to eat is good for you to eat, ie: steamed or boiled golden beets, potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, yam, carrot, etc. Eat this for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for one whole day. This will help your system take a break and allows the body to heal.

*** While in a flare up watch everything that you put into your mouth. You should be eating cooked foods that are warming and easy to digest. Foods that are slow cooked are usually a great option, ie: soups and stews in a crock-pot that don’t have many spices – keep it plain and simple for now.

4) Take it easy and relax. If you can get yourself to a restorative yoga class try it. If you’re in NYC here’s a restorative yoga class that I absolutely LOVE! Her name is Laura Wooton and it’s Tuesday’s at 8:15pm at Pure Yoga West. Get there.

BONUS) DE-STRESS! I’m not yelling here… I’m just trying to explain the urgency of this disease and if you don’t de-stress, let go, breathe, practice yoga, meditate, eat properly then there will be many negative consequences. Take care of yourself. When you feel it coming, (we all know the signs) then boost up your de-stressing techniques. Try this voice recording that I created below:

Click the photo to listen to voice recording

I know you know how to take care of yourself – but when you’re in a flare, or period of stress, the body feels it in a bad way. You MUST balance it out. Try acupuncture, meditation, qi gong – anything to take you out of your stressed state. The whole idea here is to break the pattern – if you can do that, then you’re golden.

Listen to your body – it absolutely, 100% knows what you need – just open your ears and listen carefully.

Just because I’m feeling crappy this week doesn’t mean I get to complain about it. Instead I’m taking action and being proactive – that’s what you should be doing too!

Recently I’ve been teaching meditation to many students all around NYC, Rockland and Bergen Counties and I love it! As much as my students all enjoy coming to class, when it comes to practicing on their own I continue to hear the same thing over and over again: no time or, I continuously forget to practice.

Meditation only works if you actually practice it – not just in class but on your own too. Meditation isn’t just about sitting on a cushion and watching your breath. Meditation is about being mindful and aware of your body, your surroundings and allowing yourself to be fully present. You can do this while taking a shower, walking down the street, sitting at your desk, etc.! I’ve found meditation to be extremely helpful when dealing with colitis, crohns, ibs & any other belly issues.

Here are some helpful tips to get you going:

1) As soon as you wake up do some light stretching in bed such as, gentle twists, forward folds and maybe even a childs pose. Once you’ve gently moved the body then prop yourself up on some pillows so that you can sit cross legged comfortably. Practice meditation for a minimum of 5 minutes. There’s no excuse not to practice this one since it’s in bed!

2) When you’re on the go I suggest downloading some kirtan music to listen to. Kirtan is a form of bhakti yoga, which is the yoga of love, song and devotion. There are many soothing artists you can listen to that can help get you in a meditative zone. Here are a few that I love:

Snatam Kaur

Krishna Das

David Newman

Deva Premal

Jai Uttal

Donna De Lory

Girish

Karunesh

Ravi Shankar

3) If you’re having a hard time scheduling meditation into your life then just like you would do with any other appointment – put it on your calendar.

4) Set your alarm to wake up 10 minutes earlier so that you can have sufficient amount of time to breathe, meditate and move gently.I know that if you adapt at least one of these tips you will already be well on your way to cultivating a life long meditation practice. Meditation has the ability to change your life forever – so let’s go, get in on it. Everyone can do it, there’s no excuse.

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Being new to yoga, Shira gave me a great foundation and made me feel comfortable in my practice. Her style is not intimidating and she truly embraces the yogic mindset. I was so lucky to have found Shira early in my yoga journey.— Audrey A